How To Create a Media Kit Dashboard in Google Analytics

Updating a Media Kit can be a lot simpler with all information in one spot…

I’m working on creating & treating my blog like a business, and one thing that helps is tracking the monthly statistics. I’ve blogged about how I keep some information at hand, but there is a need for bloggers to have a more formal document to provide should it be asked. Here’s a quick how-to guide to make your own Media Kit Dashboard in Google Analytics – it’ll make monthly updates a breeze. I’m using my business blog information, Bling Diva Designs, as an example since I already set up the one for Melissa Dell.

Open up your google analtyics and on the left sidebar under Dashboards, click New Dashboard

Here you can title your dashboard and start with a blank canvas.

Once it’s been created, you’ll see on the top toolbar “Add a Widget.” I used this for pulling the 2 basic forms of information – Unique Visitors and Pageloads.

Once you’ve added it, it starts populating the data based on the date parameters in the top right corner. Go through the same steps to add pageviews to your dashboard.

For some of the more complex data, I found it easier to go directly to what I want by navigating through the sidebar, and then click that fun button “Add to Dashboard” at the top. Here I am selecting where my traffic is coming from.

Always select the Table for any of the options. Depending on the data you’re collecting, you will have the option of a timeline or a graph or chart. Takes up a lot of space and while photos are pretty, you really just want the nitty gritty numbers.

Next, I go back to the toolbar to gather the demographics of my audience. This is helpful, as I learned from the SITS Girls, for specific campaigns that require an audience in a certain area.

Here I do a two-fold approach. I have one widget that lists the top 5 states in the US and then one that does the top 5 cities in California – where I’m located. When it is all complete, go back and look at your finished product!

At the beginning of each month, you’ll find all your information in one spot. You can do a screen shot of the entire thing and paste into a document, or you can copy the information into your more personalized media kit to match the branding of your site. If you found this helpful, please leave a comment or share on your favorite social media site! And introducing You never know what will show up in your inbox!

Ok what i’ve learned is that each type of tracking device (there’s also statcounter.com – i’ve used that on my site for YEARS) – capture things differently. Some exclude “bots” that might just be trolling the web, some capture your information as well (if you’re visiting your own site).

On Statcounter, I can exclude my IP address from my stats. so each month, I actually keep track of both my Statcounter & my Google Analytics numbers since they vary. From workshops I’ve attended, it seems that most campaigns want numbers from Google Analytics – because overall they feel they’re more consistent and accurate.

I’ve not been on Blogger in a few years and back then, they didn’t have any stats. I know WordPress does track but I don’t use that for anything since most campaigns want Google Analytic numbers. It’s always a fun game of guessing who wants what but I’d say stick to Google analytics. 🙂

With my numbers being as low as they are right now I’m concentrating on just the very basics for my in-progress media kit. It helps to read things like this though because as the numbers grow and change I have one more tool in the toolbox to make my media kit even better. Thanks for the great tutorial.

I’m glad you enjoyed it! I’m growing them as well, and I’m a bit of a geek and love to check in to see how they’re constantly changing. Plus, as you start applying to campaigns (if you are wanting to go that route) it’s REALLY easy to pull the numbers up for pageloads & unique visitors!

Ha ha you will! When I first signed up for google analytics, I was so impatient since it can’t go back in time. But eventually time passes and your number will increase! Thanks for visiting & commenting!

Awesome! So your media kit is electronic and changing once every month? I really like this tutorial but I haven’t made a media kit yet. I do love Google Analytics but I don’t necessarily want to advertise that only five people come to visit each day. But I guess there is no shame in humble beginnings (going on 4 years). 🙂

I compiled mine into a document on my computer (I used Illustrator, but you can also use word and save it as a PDF) and uploaded it to my Google Drive. I run the stats once a month and save the document to use for any media campaigns. I haven’t had anyone ask for it YET but I am constantly referring to the online dashboard when I’m applying to campaigns and they need to know numbers at that moment. My dashboard defaults to the past 30 days.

I’m a humble blogger too. I only started really trying to grow it since last fall and I’m still well under the goal that many campaigns want. But I’m ok with that and I know I will get there!

Thank you so much for this post. I just updated my media kit, your tutorial was easy to follow. I have been trying for some time to make a media kit, sometimes you just need a little help. Now I can accurately monitor my blog stats. Now I need to go write, Thanks again!

…this is great, thank you Melissa! Google’s latest updates (with Penguin 2.0 and their G+ overhaul) have been complex, but analytics is always handy. Vital, in fact. I also use TweetDeck to keep an eye on any Tweets you receive, and WordPress’ stats (if you use the service) are effective as well. Indeed!

Oh this is an awesome tutorial! I’m not the most savvy when it comes to GA and had no idea you could create dashboards like this. I followed the steps exactly and have everything in one nice little, handy spot. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

I wrote you an email bailey to confirm which info. I don’t have any actual demographic info on my readers to pull from. I’ve not figured out how to set that up within google. If you’re asking about something else –
Please let me know!

This is very helpful and easy to follow, thank you! On the new Google Analytics it looks like “Unique Visitors” is called “Users” in case anyone is having a hard time finding Unique Visitors when trying to add that metric.

Thank you so much for this tutorial! I was able to navigate through my stats and re-create this easily. It really gave me an opportunity to get acquainted with some of the menus and options. You did a beautiful job! Thanks so much.

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About Melissa

Thank you so much for visiting. I'm a Lifestyle blogger that lives in Sunny Southern California. I'm married, have three beautiful kids, and use this space to share different ways we're making our lives more efficient to get the most out of our days! Read More…